My Favorite Tearjerker Music Cues (Spoilers)

Let me start by saying that it doesn't take much to get me crying over a movie. I just like to think that I'm very in-touch with my emotions! Something that I really respond to in a movie death or otherwise tragic scene is a well-place music cue, a callback to an earlier song that amplifies the importance of the moment and gives us a sense of history with the character. Here are some of my favorites. Major spoilers ahead!

Pan's Labyrinth - Ofelia's Lullaby

Young Ofelia has been completing tasks assigned to her by a magical faun, proving herself a princess against the backdrop of the brutal aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. She is eventually shot by her vicious stepfather, and as she lies dying, we hear her lullaby in both the score and in the gentle hum of her friend who cradles her as she dies. 

West Side Story - "Somewhere"

Romeo and Juliet in New York. As Tony AKA Romeo lies dying, his Juliet holds him and sings a line from an earlier song: "Hold my hand and we're halfway there, hold my hand and I'll take you there, somehow, someday..." They never got to that place. The score takes over the rest of the song and closes out the film as the makeshift funeral procession carries out his body. 

Les Miserables - "Bring Him Home"

After the bloody battle at the barricade, Inspector Javert surveys the aftermath, the fatalities. He is shaken by the sight of one casualty in particular: young Gavroche. He pauses to pin his own medal on the boy's jacket, as the score plays the melody from "Bring Him Home," a song earlier sung by Jean Valjean pleading with God to bring back his daughter's love interest safely. In the stage show this melody is heard when the audience sees the dead bodies of Gavroche and revolutionary leader Enjolras. These boys, none of them, will be brought home. 

The King and I - "Something Wonderful"

As the King of Siam lies dying (of heartbreak?), his son makes proclamations nearby as he prepares to assume the throne. As the old world dies to make way for the new, the King, surrounded by Miss Anna and his right-hand servant, breathes his last breath. The score plays the melody from "Something Wonderful," a song sung earlier by his wife about loving him in spite of his stubbornness and imperfections. 

La Vie En Rose - "Non, je ne regrette rien"

Singer Edith Piaf had a difficult life full of some triumphs and lots of heartbreak. Her final moments are intercut with shots of her childhood and her performing on stage "Non, je ne regrette rien": I regret nothing. 

 

Do you have any favorites?